On Jan. 17, The Middlebury Snow Bowl hosted a Fostering Inclusive Recreation Experience (FIRE) event at the bowl for the second year in a row, providing BIPOC students with free transportation, ski lessons, equipment rentals and passes for a night of skiing. FIRE is a student organization with the mission of reducing barriers to outdoor sports for marginalized groups at Middlebury. The club leads outdoor trips year-round that involve hiking, backpacking, ice skating, fishing, skiing and ice climbing.
The event’s success was the result of collaboration between several members of the Middlebury community, Ruby Warner ’24.5, president of FIRE, told The Campus in an email.
“We collaborated with the Snowbowl to provide ski lessons and rentals to as many BIPOC students as possible. With help from PALANA, MCAB, and the DEI office we are able to offer rentals and lessons to 50 students,” Warner wrote.
Last year, Kamryn You Mak ’23.5, founder of FIRE, and Elise Chan ’24 organized the same event and were able to support 30 students. Warner wrote that this year, FIRE offered 50 spots that filled up in 15 minutes.
“It is clear that BIPOC students at Midd want to get involved in snow sports, but the financial and social barriers are preventing this,” Warner wrote. “The price of mountain passes is insanely expensive and only increasing.”
She also mentioned the high expense of gear, warm clothing and winter sports lessons.
Middlebury Outdoor Programs (MOP) Assistant Rick Walker ’27.5 wrote in an email to The Campus that while he thinks Middlebury is lucky to have the Snow Bowl and Rikert Outdoor Center, he worries that the Middlebury Snow Bowl is no longer the most affordable place for Middlebury students to enjoy winter sports. Snow Bowl prices were raised this season and a daytime season pass for a college student now costs $189 compared with the previous $99. He pointed out that at the nearby Mad River Glen, a ski resort in Vermont’s Mad River Valley, a daytime pass for college students costs a comparatively cheaper $169 for college students.
Apart from the high cost of winter sports, the predominantly white population of skiers poses the challenge of potential alienation to underrepresented students interested in outdoor activities.
“Snow sports are an extremely white-dominated space that can be intimidating to anyone who is new, even to people who have gone before,” Warner wrote.
The president of FIRE pointed out that as a predominately white institution, Middlebury may unintentionally discourage BIPOC students from participating in outdoor sports.
“[FIRE’s] goal is to create a safe space outdoors for BIPOC students while also building a community,” she wrote.
While the event’s goal was simple, organizing this year’s event was not an entirely smooth process, Walker told The Campus.
“FIRE club’s budget is not huge, especially compared to other bigger clubs. Ruby did a really good job reaching out to a batch of other campus partners to provide support outside of their own budget,” he wrote.
Funding and marketing are often big issues for event organizers. David Wilder, director of Programming and Events at the college, and Rich Connell, assistant director of MOP, mentioned that the increase in interest in outdoor activities has not been met with an increase in resources.
“We are always moving the needle forward; however, it’s fair to say our approach has been incremental due to a steady increase in participation and demand while human and financial resources remain static,” Connell wrote.
Walker echoed this struggle.
“The whole point of [MOP] is to give people who want to be outside the opportunity to,” Walker wrote. “But we can only do so much with the resources we’re given by the college.”
Will Hinkle ’26, former president of Middlebury Mountain Club (MMC), agreed with Walker, adding that the college itself does little to promote outdoor access outside of student organizations.
“The college exclusively depends on organizations like FIRE and MMC to push forward their mission to include more people to the outdoor activities, which is true but really depends on a select group of student leaders they are accomplishing on their behalf and not necessarily with any support from the college other than just the Student Activities Office is just doing their normal job,” Hinkle said.
Despite these challenges, Connell attested to MOP’s ongoing commitment to promoting inclusion.
“I can say with confidence that the MOP staff and their partners will continue to collaborate, advocate for additional support, and make progress toward a future state with far fewer barriers to accessing winter sports,” he wrote.
Middlebury’s picturesque mountain setting offers students unparalleled opportunities to embrace outdoor sports, especially at the Snow Bowl — one of only two college-owned ski areas in the U.S. Yet, as barriers to accessibility persist, particularly for underrepresented groups, clubs like FIRE believe it is important that the college community remain committed to fostering inclusivity and equity on the slopes.
Hugo Zhang '28 (he/him) is a News Editor.
Hugo previously served as an Online Editor. He intends to major in Economics and Geography. He enjoys cartography, traveling, and history. Last summer, he studied at Sciences Po Paris and traveled across Europe. He has also conducted research on ethnic minority policies, economic transformation, and urban planning in Northeastern China, also known as Manchuria.
